PACS:
1. n. (acronym)Picture Archiving and Communications System. A device or group of devices and associated network components designed to store and retrieve medical images.
2. n. (acronym)Pain And Constant Suffering.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Unbeknownst to me, there has been a game of sorts going on among some of my partners called "Trump the Dalai", wherein they have to find some piece of technology I haven't already tried. My partner Rick (well, to be honest, it was actually his wife) won the game hands down this week. For his birthday, Rick received a brand new FlipStart super-compact PC. I'll let you read the stats on the FlipStart webpage, but suffice it to say, this is a fully functional Windows XP computer that is about the size of a largish paperback book. Most remarkable for a tiny machine like this is its large screen, a "5.6 inch diagonal high ­resolution display (which) makes computing easy on the eyes, with a full view of Windows® (1024 x 768)."

When Mark, my PACS guru, got hold of this thing, he went absolutely wild with glee, and proceeded to access our Amicas server, which turned out to be just as easy as on any other laptop. You can see the results above. Note the quarter on the screen placed for a size reference. With the size of the image displayed, you might think we were using a scanner like this one:

Rest assured, however, that these are real human images from a regular old MRI. (The little scanner, image courtesy of Craig Woody, BNL, actually is a minature PET detector used for animal research.)

The screen resolution of the FlipStart is adequate for reading digital modalities such as CT, MR, NM, US, etc. I don't think I would try to read CR, but it might be possible in a pinch. Especially for rat radiographs.

Rick's prize for winning Trump the Dalai? An extra night of call! Just kidding.....